Our greatest impact happens together
Endowment Report
2022/2023
Endowed gifts like yours make a profound impact across Waterloo’s campus community and beyond. Your generous support allows members of our academic family (like the students featured in this report) to apply their knowledge, skills and passion to complex challenges. Thank you for your investment, commitment and vision. Together, we are shaping a better future for humanity and the planet.
In 2022-2023, over 835 individually named endowment funds distributed $13,200,000million to support vital resources, including scholarships, funding for research, chairs and professorships, and more.
24 new endowments were established in 2022/23.
$515,600,000
Market value
Market Value, as at April 30, 2023. The value at which investments in the endowment pool could be sold in the open market.
$447,300,000
Book value
Book Value, as at April 30, 2023. The value of all contributions and capitalized earnings that have been deposited into the endowment principal.
Investing in Innovation
The University of Waterloo will be the first post-secondary institution in Canada to invest from its endowment into a venture capital (VC) fund. A contribution of up to $5 million to the Velocity Fund II will help to address Canada’s innovation gap by providing early support for early-stage startups emerging from the University, the Velocity incubator and Waterloo Region.
Endowment Fund Management
Waterloo’s Endowment is invested with a long-term view. Our priority is to protect and grow the endowment to ensure a stable source of funding in perpetuity. The University pursues a thoughtful implementation of investment strategies and vigilant risk management in achieving these objectives. The Finance and Investment Committee exercises general oversight of the financial affairs of the University and reviews the portfolio and performance of the fund managers. The committee reports to the Board of Governors, recommending changes as required.
Portfolio Asset Mix
The Finance and Investment Committee reviews and approves the asset mix.
Benchmark Allocation with Asset Class
The permitted ranges are:
Cash or equivalent 0%-2%
Fixed income 20%-40%
Canadian equity 0%-20%
Global equity 50%-70%
Venture capital 0%-5%
Total equity 60%-75%
Infrastructure 0%-5%
Real estate 0%-5%
Total real assets 0%-10%.
Growth in Waterloo's Endowment
Book and Market values of the endowment for 2022/23
Book Value $447.3M
Market Value $515.6M
Endowment Fund Returns
The endowment fund total return for the year ending April 30, 2023 was 8.37% and the annualized total return for the 10 years ending April 30, 2023 was 6.94%.
The total return includes both realized returns (interest, dividends, market value gains/losses earned through investment transactions) and unrealized returns (market value increases/decreases in existing investment holdings.)
Asset Managers
- Fiera Capital Corporation
- Phillips Hager North Investment Services (a division of RBC Global Asset Management)
- TD Asset Management
- University of Waterloo
- Walter Scott Partners Ltd. (a division of BNY Mellon Investment Management)
How funds are allocated and preserved
The amount of investment income allocated for spending is based on an expendable rate, set annually at the start of each fiscal year. The expendable rate considers consistency in practice, spending needs and anticipated endowment realized investment returns. The expendable rate for 2022/23 was 3%. The expendable rate for the current year, ending April 30, 2024, is currently set at 3%.
Waterloo endeavours to annually increase the principal balance of each endowment for inflation, based on Bank of Canada inflation measures (CPI increase). Realized investment income amounts earned in excess of the expendable rate and CPI increase are allocated to an endowment’s reserve account. If sufficient realized income is not earned throughout the year to fund spending at the set expendable rate and the CPI increase, the endowment’s reserve account can be used to fund spending and/or the CPI increase.
For more information about endowment management and spending policy at the University of Waterloo please visit our Endowment FAQs web page.
Our stories:
Pursuing a path to the stars
Donor support has enabled student Isaac Cheng to work on national space projects while sharing his love for physics.
Exercising a passion to help others
Inspired by the memory of a beloved professor, kinesiology student Oumar El-Aina hopes to channel his history of helping into a career in health care.